Some Kind of PeaceBy: Camila Grebe & Asa Traff Wiki By: Pari Kumar
Title, Author & Reasoning
For my independent reading book for quarter one, I picked Some Kind of Peace by Camila Grebe and Asa Traff. I chose this book because of its name and context. It seemed like a book full of action and horror, where all you can think of is "What’s going to happen next?" and every event makes you gape in disturbance. On the cover of the book, it says "He watches her. He knows her. He sees she's afraid.” That line brought curiosity to my mind and made me wonder what that is about. When I went to Barnes & Noble, I picked this book thinking that it would bring a [[#|new]] aspect to life and it surely did. Genre
Some Kind of Peace has a variety of different genres including young adult fiction, mystery, thriller, horror, and [[#|crime]] fiction. This is a book full of blood, stalkers, [[#|criminals]] and death. One of the genres is young adult fiction because the language is very profane and the story consists of many different examples of love in unique aspects. Although love takes place in a mature way, there is a bit of mystery within every relationship. Mystery is another important genre because it is significant to the reader and the writer to find out who murdered Sara and who has been constantly stalking Siri. Whoever did, committed many [[#|crimes]] and actions that should place them directly in a jail cell. That is where the genre [[#|crime]] fiction takes place. Who is the villain? This malevolent person did much to hurt the people around him including some very creepy stuff. The next genre is horror. Lots of horror in the story because there is some blood and suicide/ murders that take place. There are many trips to the hospital and the police station resulting in many interrogations to stop the horror. Also, there are many people with [[#|anxiety disorders]] that will do frightening things to stay relaxed. Last but not least, the suspense or the thrill of the plot. The last genre is thriller because there is always something more you will want to know and something that will excite you to [[#|continue]] reading the book. Every book has a genre, Some Kind of Peace has a genre full of characteristics that makes the book complete with the young adult fiction, mystery, thrill, horror and the [[#|crime]]. Summary
In Some Kind of Peace, Dr. Siri Bergman is a private psychologist who lives in Stockholm. She has many patients to take care of that are [[#|dealing with anxiety]] disorders. A few years ago, her husband, Stephen died in the sea directly next to her house. She was still recovering from that horrid moment when her life takes a huge turn. Siri often drinks a lot to calm her nerves and her loneliness. Lately, something weird has been taking place in her life. There is a person, watching Siri’s every move. Last summer, she repeatedly felt like she was being watched and now she knows she was. Many incidents occurred that was done from the stalker. She realized that when Sara, one of her patients committed suicide, it wasn’t really suicide but rather murder and also that the person stalking Siri took creepy pictures of her and stuffed her own cat. He killed many people and a few animals too, called the police on her for “drunk driving” and made her life a living hell. Who is the stalker and what do they want with Siri? What did she do wrong and why is he after her? Characters
Every character in the story was exceptional in their own way. Their characteristics defined them in a way that is unique from each other. Three main characters stood out to me; Siri, Sara and Markus. Siri is the main character in the novel. She is a psychologist who deals with anxiety disorders and mental problems. Siri is a quiet, easily frightened, petite girl who is really scared of the dark. Siri explains, “I always make sure I turn on the lights- because I don’t like darkness. It’s as if the abstinence of light erases the boundary between me and the world around me, which frightens me more than I want to admit and brings fourth the feeling I know best of all; fear” (p. 17). A few years after her husband died from either a suicide attempt or by a murderer, Siri has never felt more alone in her life. She lives in a small house by a sea where she takes daily swims. Siri gets the feeling that she is being watched a lot, little does she know that that feeling is true. Siri thinks to herself, “Several times this summer I had the unpleasant feeling of being watched while I was alone at home” (p.49). Siri is being stalked by a man or a woman who wants to do much harm to her and her close ones. With this idea in mind, Siri is paranoid and worried. Every day after her work, she would come back home and drink many glasses of wine to make her relax and forget all her worries. At that moment of her life, everything falls apart whether it is her cat being stolen, her patients slowly dying, being arrested or being threatened and shoved, Siri tries to wear a brave face but with the support of her closest friends, she remains safe. In the novel, she deals with love, bereft over Stephen, her old husband and plenty more. One of Siri’s patients is a girl named Sara. Sara is another important character in the story. Sara has been going to Siri for treatment over her many anxiety disorders and her cutting. Sara had a bad history. She was put in social services at a very young age but she later offended the social worker and got put in a foster home. At fifteen, she was raped frequently by her foster father. She tried to run away but time after time, she was caught by the local police. That is the time, her self-injuring had started. Sara says that “at eighteen, she was tested out to have borderline personality disorder” (p.13). She was an unusual, naughty kid back in the days. She had difficulties concentrating and started smoking in the middle school. She has a very gentle personality. Siri said, “Aggressive? Absolutely. But I have never seen Sara hurt anyone other than herself” (p.13). Later in the novel, Sara was found dead in the sea next to Siri’s house. It turns out she was murdered by Siri’s stalkers whom left a “suicide note” to clearly fake the death. Siri went for a swim in her pier when she notices, “She is lying naked under the water, her body is small and thin like a child’s, but with the shape of a women. It is Sara Matteus” (p.103). With Sara gone, the police and detectives find their way into the novel to figure out the mystery. There are two main detectives; Markus and Sonja. Markus is another interesting character who had a big role in the novel. Markus is a handsome, nice young man who hit it off with Siri. After some time of constant questions and answers between Markus and Siri, they soon started to date. They had a complicated relationship. Markus is a protective man and a good boyfriend to Siri because he is patient, thoughtful and calm with Siri no matter how crazy her thoughts get. They continued dating for a while, but soon Markus was kicked of the investigation because he was to in love with Siri. Markus tells Siri, “I am going to be removed from the investigation” (p.248). To Markus, nothing else matter and he remained next to Siri through her troubles and worries. Markus is a good man and will continuously be. Three characters in this novel stood out to me, Siri, Sara and Markus because of their extraordinary personalities.
Themes & Big Ideas
Many different themes and big ideas take place in the novel. The first big theme or idea was that things from the past will haunt you in the future. This statement means that whatever you do know, will affect your life. In the story, Siri had hurt and offended a patient’s sister’s feelings when she was in middle school and now it haunts her that maybe it’s he, who hurts her. It causes her to be frightened of him and his power over her. Also, in the past, a patient of Siri’s committed suicide and it affects her in the story when the patient’s dad comes to Siri to have a little talk with her. Another major theme and big idea was to beware of your surroundings. There were many times in Siri’s past that her stalker had come in contact with her by either holding the door open, touching her hair, helping her carry her grocery bags and much more. If Siri would have realized how often the same person was around her and then that he/she was probably the creeper. The last main theme and big ideas was that you have to learn to blame yourself once in a while because the stalker is mad at Siri for something that was not under her control and more rather his own fault. He couldn’t take the simple fact that he could have stopped the bad happenings. If he could understand that the only person to blame was himself, nobody would have gotten stalked and life would be at peace for Siri, her friends and her patients. The themes and big ideas in the story taught the reader’s some lessons and made the story grow in fascination. Major Conflict
In the story, there are many problems or major conflicts that affect a person or two. One problem that really stood out to me was at the end of the book when her stalker takes a visit to Siri’s house. Siri was finally alone with her stalker when he starts to yell at her for all the ‘damage’ she had caused. He said “You took my life from me. Don’t you understand? My life was…. Perfect. Everything was perfect, our life” (p.292). He soon go upset and started repeating, “You Killed her” over and over again when Siri had nothing to do with this death. He started fighting back and chasing Siri around in her small house. She was alone with the man who killed three people and two animals. This is major conflict because he had the power to kill her to and within a minute, her life could have ended. As a matter of fact, after he was done yelling, Siri was thinking,” That it is time for me to die” (p.302). With that thought, Siri had sprinted off and her stalker shortly behind. Her stalker hurt Siri a lot, the narrator Siri says, “His hand grabs my arm, and with a yell he throws me back toward the cottage, heaves my whole body against the red wall. I can feel myself break, something in my jaw gives way and my mouth is filled with gravel and blood. Blood is running from my mouth and I see that what I thought was gravel, was actually teeth” (p.303). He causes a lot of pain to Siri while Siri stabs an ax in his back ending his life and making her peace. This major conflict brought a person to the hospital and another to hell. Although it is a problem, she saved her life with this opportunity.
Symbolic Image
The short video I made consists of three main images that stand for the relationship between Siri and her stalker. On the cover of the novel, it says, “He watches her. He knows her. He sees she is afraid”. That stood out to me because it shows the power that he has over Siri and basically with one touch or push, she can tumble to the ground like a pyramid of cards. The first drawing is of the stalker watching Siri’s every move like watching her slowly eat her sandwich. The second drawing is of the stalker knowing exactly what Siri is doing and thinking about her nonstop. The last drawing is of the stalker creeping up on Siri while she is trembling of fear under her blanket. These images were drawn out of what I saw when I read those three lines.
New & Unusual words
1)Maladjusted: Not adjusted well and not satisfied
“I am so desperately anxious that Sara will not be reduced to an antisocial, maladjusted mental case.” (p.107)
2) Fervent: hot; enthusiastic and passionate
“Markus looks fervent, as if it was important for him to convey to me what led him to this decision” (p. 230)
3)Treacherous: Dangerous; unstable or insecure
“Her words come quickly—treacherous as streaming, shallow water in a flood.”(p.105)
4)Gingerly: warily; softy and with a gentle touch
“I touch the spot gingerly and look at my fingers, It is blood.” (p. 202)
5)Inscrutable: not comprehendible; not understood
“I can hear how lame my excuse sounds, but the policeman’s facial expression is inscrutable.” (p.87)
Similar qualities Some Kind of Peace seems to have many similar qualities to existing works because of its context. There are many scary films that have been written based on stalkers. Some examples that this book reminds me of is Scream and Fear. These two movies along with Some Kind of Peace, all have comparable plots. They are all based on revenge, obsession, stalking, has many murder motives and some plot twists. A few more examples of similar qualities are a number of art pieces. A few illustrations are “The black book of horror” and “Caroline”, because it makes me think of man/women who are sitting by themselves while peering inside a small house just like Siri’s stalker was. This book also seems to remind me of the song, “Every Breath You Take”. The song reminds me of this book because of the lyrics which are, “Every Breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you”. The song sounds very creepy and is essentially saying that I am stalking you and I know what you are up to every moment of the day just like Siri’s stalker did to her. A literature work that I thought to resemble Some Kind of Peace is a long poem called “Stalker”. It is about a creepy guy that follows a girl everywhere she goes because he wants to own her. Siri’s stalker also told her the day he visited her that he wondering how she never noticed him which is similar to the poem because a few lines were about the author wondering why the girl never noticed him. These similar qualities resembled Some Kind of Peace in different ways that all connected to the book to form a circle of similarities.
Some Kind of PeaceBy: Camila Grebe & Asa Traff Wiki By: Pari Kumar
Title, Author & Reasoning
For my independent reading book for quarter one, I picked Some Kind of Peace by Camila Grebe and Asa Traff. I chose this book because of its name and context. It seemed like a book full of action and horror, where all you can think of is "What’s going to happen next?" and every event makes you gape in disturbance. On the cover of the book, it says "He watches her. He knows her. He sees she's afraid.” That line brought curiosity to my mind and made me wonder what that is about. When I went to Barnes & Noble, I picked this book thinking that it would bring a [[#|new]] aspect to life and it surely did.
Genre
Some Kind of Peace has a variety of different genres including young adult fiction, mystery, thriller, horror, and [[#|crime]] fiction. This is a book full of blood, stalkers, [[#|criminals]] and death. One of the genres is young adult fiction because the language is very profane and the story consists of many different examples of love in unique aspects. Although love takes place in a mature way, there is a bit of mystery within every relationship. Mystery is another important genre because it is significant to the reader and the writer to find out who murdered Sara and who has been constantly stalking Siri. Whoever did, committed many [[#|crimes]] and actions that should place them directly in a jail cell. That is where the genre [[#|crime]] fiction takes place. Who is the villain? This malevolent person did much to hurt the people around him including some very creepy stuff. The next genre is horror. Lots of horror in the story because there is some blood and suicide/ murders that take place. There are many trips to the hospital and the police station resulting in many interrogations to stop the horror. Also, there are many people with [[#|anxiety disorders]] that will do frightening things to stay relaxed. Last but not least, the suspense or the thrill of the plot. The last genre is thriller because there is always something more you will want to know and something that will excite you to [[#|continue]] reading the book. Every book has a genre, Some Kind of Peace has a genre full of characteristics that makes the book complete with the young adult fiction, mystery, thrill, horror and the [[#|crime]].
Summary
In Some Kind of Peace, Dr. Siri Bergman is a private psychologist who lives in Stockholm. She has many patients to take care of that are [[#|dealing with anxiety]] disorders. A few years ago, her husband, Stephen died in the sea directly next to her house. She was still recovering from that horrid moment when her life takes a huge turn. Siri often drinks a lot to calm her nerves and her loneliness. Lately, something weird has been taking place in her life. There is a person, watching Siri’s every move. Last summer, she repeatedly felt like she was being watched and now she knows she was. Many incidents occurred that was done from the stalker. She realized that when Sara, one of her patients committed suicide, it wasn’t really suicide but rather murder and also that the person stalking Siri took creepy pictures of her and stuffed her own cat. He killed many people and a few animals too, called the police on her for “drunk driving” and made her life a living hell. Who is the stalker and what do they want with Siri? What did she do wrong and why is he after her?
Characters
Every character in the story was exceptional in their own way. Their characteristics defined them in a way that is unique from each other. Three main characters stood out to me; Siri, Sara and Markus. Siri is the main character in the novel. She is a psychologist who deals with anxiety disorders and mental problems. Siri is a quiet, easily frightened, petite girl who is really scared of the dark. Siri explains, “I always make sure I turn on the lights- because I don’t like darkness. It’s as if the abstinence of light erases the boundary between me and the world around me, which frightens me more than I want to admit and brings fourth the feeling I know best of all; fear” (p. 17). A few years after her husband died from either a suicide attempt or by a murderer, Siri has never felt more alone in her life. She lives in a small house by a sea where she takes daily swims. Siri gets the feeling that she is being watched a lot, little does she know that that feeling is true. Siri thinks to herself, “Several times this summer I had the unpleasant feeling of being watched while I was alone at home” (p.49). Siri is being stalked by a man or a woman who wants to do much harm to her and her close ones. With this idea in mind, Siri is paranoid and worried. Every day after her work, she would come back home and drink many glasses of wine to make her relax and forget all her worries. At that moment of her life, everything falls apart whether it is her cat being stolen, her patients slowly dying, being arrested or being threatened and shoved, Siri tries to wear a brave face but with the support of her closest friends, she remains safe. In the novel, she deals with love, bereft over Stephen, her old husband and plenty more. One of Siri’s patients is a girl named Sara. Sara is another important character in the story. Sara has been going to Siri for treatment over her many anxiety disorders and her cutting. Sara had a bad history. She was put in social services at a very young age but she later offended the social worker and got put in a foster home. At fifteen, she was raped frequently by her foster father. She tried to run away but time after time, she was caught by the local police. That is the time, her self-injuring had started. Sara says that “at eighteen, she was tested out to have borderline personality disorder” (p.13). She was an unusual, naughty kid back in the days. She had difficulties concentrating and started smoking in the middle school. She has a very gentle personality. Siri said, “Aggressive? Absolutely. But I have never seen Sara hurt anyone other than herself” (p.13). Later in the novel, Sara was found dead in the sea next to Siri’s house. It turns out she was murdered by Siri’s stalkers whom left a “suicide note” to clearly fake the death. Siri went for a swim in her pier when she notices, “She is lying naked under the water, her body is small and thin like a child’s, but with the shape of a women. It is Sara Matteus” (p.103). With Sara gone, the police and detectives find their way into the novel to figure out the mystery. There are two main detectives; Markus and Sonja. Markus is another interesting character who had a big role in the novel. Markus is a handsome, nice young man who hit it off with Siri. After some time of constant questions and answers between Markus and Siri, they soon started to date. They had a complicated relationship. Markus is a protective man and a good boyfriend to Siri because he is patient, thoughtful and calm with Siri no matter how crazy her thoughts get. They continued dating for a while, but soon Markus was kicked of the investigation because he was to in love with Siri. Markus tells Siri, “I am going to be removed from the investigation” (p.248). To Markus, nothing else matter and he remained next to Siri through her troubles and worries. Markus is a good man and will continuously be. Three characters in this novel stood out to me, Siri, Sara and Markus because of their extraordinary personalities.
Themes & Big Ideas
Many different themes and big ideas take place in the novel. The first big theme or idea was that things from the past will haunt you in the future. This statement means that whatever you do know, will affect your life. In the story, Siri had hurt and offended a patient’s sister’s feelings when she was in middle school and now it haunts her that maybe it’s he, who hurts her. It causes her to be frightened of him and his power over her. Also, in the past, a patient of Siri’s committed suicide and it affects her in the story when the patient’s dad comes to Siri to have a little talk with her. Another major theme and big idea was to beware of your surroundings. There were many times in Siri’s past that her stalker had come in contact with her by either holding the door open, touching her hair, helping her carry her grocery bags and much more. If Siri would have realized how often the same person was around her and then that he/she was probably the creeper. The last main theme and big ideas was that you have to learn to blame yourself once in a while because the stalker is mad at Siri for something that was not under her control and more rather his own fault. He couldn’t take the simple fact that he could have stopped the bad happenings. If he could understand that the only person to blame was himself, nobody would have gotten stalked and life would be at peace for Siri, her friends and her patients. The themes and big ideas in the story taught the reader’s some lessons and made the story grow in fascination.
Major Conflict
In the story, there are many problems or major conflicts that affect a person or two. One problem that really stood out to me was at the end of the book when her stalker takes a visit to Siri’s house. Siri was finally alone with her stalker when he starts to yell at her for all the ‘damage’ she had caused. He said “You took my life from me. Don’t you understand? My life was…. Perfect. Everything was perfect, our life” (p.292). He soon go upset and started repeating, “You Killed her” over and over again when Siri had nothing to do with this death. He started fighting back and chasing Siri around in her small house. She was alone with the man who killed three people and two animals. This is major conflict because he had the power to kill her to and within a minute, her life could have ended. As a matter of fact, after he was done yelling, Siri was thinking,” That it is time for me to die” (p.302). With that thought, Siri had sprinted off and her stalker shortly behind. Her stalker hurt Siri a lot, the narrator Siri says, “His hand grabs my arm, and with a yell he throws me back toward the cottage, heaves my whole body against the red wall. I can feel myself break, something in my jaw gives way and my mouth is filled with gravel and blood. Blood is running from my mouth and I see that what I thought was gravel, was actually teeth” (p.303). He causes a lot of pain to Siri while Siri stabs an ax in his back ending his life and making her peace. This major conflict brought a person to the hospital and another to hell. Although it is a problem, she saved her life with this opportunity.
Symbolic Image
The short video I made consists of three main images that stand for the relationship between Siri and her stalker. On the cover of the novel, it says, “He watches her. He knows her. He sees she is afraid”. That stood out to me because it shows the power that he has over Siri and basically with one touch or push, she can tumble to the ground like a pyramid of cards. The first drawing is of the stalker watching Siri’s every move like watching her slowly eat her sandwich. The second drawing is of the stalker knowing exactly what Siri is doing and thinking about her nonstop. The last drawing is of the stalker creeping up on Siri while she is trembling of fear under her blanket. These images were drawn out of what I saw when I read those three lines.
New & Unusual words
1)Maladjusted: Not adjusted well and not satisfied
“I am so desperately anxious that Sara will not be reduced to an antisocial, maladjusted mental case.” (p.107)
2) Fervent: hot; enthusiastic and passionate
“Markus looks fervent, as if it was important for him to convey to me what led him to this decision” (p. 230)
3)Treacherous: Dangerous; unstable or insecure
“Her words come quickly—treacherous as streaming, shallow water in a flood.”(p.105)
4)Gingerly: warily; softy and with a gentle touch
“I touch the spot gingerly and look at my fingers, It is blood.” (p. 202)
5)Inscrutable: not comprehendible; not understood
“I can hear how lame my excuse sounds, but the policeman’s facial expression is inscrutable.” (p.87)
Similar qualities
Some Kind of Peace seems to have many similar qualities to existing works because of its context. There are many scary films that have been written based on stalkers. Some examples that this book reminds me of is Scream and Fear. These two movies along with Some Kind of Peace, all have comparable plots. They are all based on revenge, obsession, stalking, has many murder motives and some plot twists. A few more examples of similar qualities are a number of art pieces. A few illustrations are “The black book of horror” and “Caroline”, because it makes me think of man/women who are sitting by themselves while peering inside a small house just like Siri’s stalker was. This book also seems to remind me of the song, “Every Breath You Take”. The song reminds me of this book because of the lyrics which are, “Every Breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you”. The song sounds very creepy and is essentially saying that I am stalking you and I know what you are up to every moment of the day just like Siri’s stalker did to her. A literature work that I thought to resemble Some Kind of Peace is a long poem called “Stalker”. It is about a creepy guy that follows a girl everywhere she goes because he wants to own her. Siri’s stalker also told her the day he visited her that he wondering how she never noticed him which is similar to the poem because a few lines were about the author wondering why the girl never noticed him. These similar qualities resembled Some Kind of Peace in different ways that all connected to the book to form a circle of similarities.
Goodreads link:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13259781-some-kind-of-peace